The present invention relates to improvements in humidifying apparatus designed to maintain a properly humidified atmosphere in textile and other large industrial plants. More particularly, the invention relates to an improved centrifugal humidifying apparatus to increase humidification capacity.
A typical centrifugal humidifier is described in U.S. Pat. No. 2,163,474 to Sloan.
In another type of centrifugal humidifier, a disc is fixed to rotate with a hub of a fan. Water is fed to the disc from the larger end of a conical chamber formed in the hub. The face of the disc receiving the water is flat and unchanneled. In this humidifier if water is fed through the conical chamber in excess of a certain rate, gravity forces will cause a circumferentially uneven feed to the disc which is to say, a disproportionate amount of the water is fed from below the centerline of the conical chamber.
Heretofore, in these types of humidifiers, the capacity, in terms of the amount of water which can be entrained by the air, has been limited to an important degree by the surface tension of the feed water. The surface tension limits the film depth of the water moving outward on the discs.
The effectiveness of the shearing action at the periphery of the discs also limits the amount of water which can be entrained. Unless sheared effectively to generate a mist, additional water will not be entrained.